Question Everything

Menu

Olympics: To Watch…Or…Not To Watch

The day has finally come. The Opening Ceremonies of the most free sporting event in the world, in one of the least free countries in the world. To be gay is to break the law: to be yourself is to break the law. I type that again.

To be yourself is to break the law.

On the other hand, athletes from far and wide have worked their whole lives for this: For this chance. To be number 1. If we don’t watch, we don’t support their dreams.

Here’s a “Would You Rather” question for you: Would you rather prevent a skater from getting his gold medal, or would you rather prevent a gay teenager from getting egged on his normal walk home from school?

These might sound extreme. But are they really? Surely, no one is preventing a skater but doing what they love, yet kids and adults are being bullied everyday just for loving. Any dreams they have may never be realized.

An Olympics happens every four years. Some, however, may not be around to see that next four years.

I’ve heard a lot of people say they’re going to watch the Olympics anyway because they want to support the athletes. Frankly, if you want to watch just watch. I get it. It’s the Olympics. Again it happens every four years and they can be quite magical. But please as a gay person I don’t need to hear why your conscience is cleared for doing so.

I, however, will not be watching. Which is sad because I love the Olympics. It’s not so much about cheering for the athletes but to cheer for humanity and the world coming together in one place.

This year is different. It will be very hard for me to cheer for humanity when just outside the stadium, it’s being ripped apart.